The Rookie's Christmas
by SpiritWolf126
Summary: I know it's not Christmas, but give me a break. Sequal to Valentine's Festival. The Rookies have gathered for Christmas, and Sakura is having trouble finding her fiance.


**Okay, I know Christmas is still pretty far away, but I wanted to put this up anyway. It's kinda an everyone fic, and it continues from my other story Valentine's Festival. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OC's, so don't sue me.**

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Sakura's eyes roved the room she was in as she searced vigilently for her fiance. It was Christmas Eve, and everyone had gathered to celebrate the holiday in the Uchiha mansion. The party had actually been Hinata's idea, but Sasuke and Temari had volunteered their home for the occasion. The two had been married for two and a half months now, and Temari was pregnant with the first heir. Gaara and Kankuro weren't all too happy when they found out she was pregnant already, but they got over it. Granted, it did take Sakura physically restraining the ex-Jinchuriki to keep him from killing her teammate, but she didn't care. She was surprised herself, honestly she expected it to take longer than that, but then again, this was Sasuke they were talking about. Withholding a giggle, Sakura started walking through the crowd, continuing her search for the poor Kazekage, who had been dragged off by Naruto not too long ago.

Stepping into the lounge, Sakura's eyes landed on Kiba and Lauralie talking to Ino, Shikamaru, Shino, and Shino's girlfriend. Shino had met her at party his father had for family and friends, and the two hit it off spectacularly. She was just as fascinated by bugs as Shino, and was actually a very sweet girl. All in all, everyone liked her, and they knew it wouldn't be long before Shino proposed. He had actually already asked the girls for ideas on how to. Ino and Shikamaru sat next to each other contentedly, Shikamaru with his arm around the blond, who leaned her head on his shoulder. They fought, it was true, but they loved each other, and their wedding was coming up in a month. Poor Ino was stressed out, but always managed to calm down around Shikamaru. Kiba and Lauralie are actually the first offical parents out of their group, and have been married now for eight months. They found out not long after the Valentine's Festival that Lauralie was three months pregnant. The baby was born in late August, and they named her Hanako. Now at the age of four months, she was daddy's little girl, and surprisingly seemed to like Shino a lot. Lauralie lost most of the weight she had gained, but still had a bit more to go before she had her old figure back. Regardless, Kiba loved her, and the extra weight never bothered him.

Smiling lightly at her friends, Sakura stepped out of the room and walked down the hall. Red, green, silver, and gold streamers occupied the mantle, while various festive nick knacks and branches of holly and mistletoe were spread out on the selves and hanging from doors. Temari had done a nice job decorating, and made some really good food. Always the courteous one, she had even made Naruto a pot of ramen. Hinata had made various deserts, from cookies and pudding to cakes and pastries. Everyone had brought someone a gift, which were all stacked under the Christmas tree in the foyer, waiting to be opened. The tree itself was lavishly decorated with baubles of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and lights twinkling in various colors as well. A silver star sat at the top, with small clear stones on each point, and a large one in the center. A festive tree skirt sat on the floor below it, providing a space for the gifts to be put. Temari had even gone so far as to put up thousands of lights outside, illuminating the snow that was on the ground and falling from the sky. The icicles hanging from the various branches of the trees sparkled in the light, making the scene beautiful.

Reaching the kitchen, Sakura glanced in to see Naruto and Hinata sitting at the table with Sasuke, Temari, Sai, and Kakashi, talking peacefully about Naruto upcoming innaugoration into the office of the Hokage. The blond had finally gotten his dream, as Tsunade announced two weeks ago she was stepping down and passing the title of Hokage onto Naruto. The whole group had gone out that night to celebrate, and Naruto ended up getting drunk off his ass. It took both Sasuke and Sai to carry him back to the house he shared with Hinata, his fiancee. The two were due to get married half a month after Ino and Shikamaru, just in time for Naruto's new job. Kakashi still hadn't proposed to Anko yet, even at the urging of everyone. He claimed he just wasn't ready to get married, but Sakura thought it was because he was scared to lose Anko. She knew that it would put Anko in danger to get married to Kakashi, since he was in so many bingo books, but she also knew Anko loved him, and would put up with the danger just to be with him.

Ducking out of the room, Sakura continued up the stairs and down the second floor hallway. So far she hadn't seen Neji, Tenten, Gai, Lee, Kankuro, Chouji, Sai, Baki, Tsunade, Jiriya, and Gaara. Honestly, she didn't want to find the two Sanin, since they had actually went upstairs together, both clearly drunk. Jiriya would be in pain in the morning, but she had to admit, watching them flirt quite loudly had been funny. If she had to guess, Neji and Tenten were borrowing a guest bedroom, and wouldn't be seen for a while. Chouji, like Shino, had found a girlfriend. This girl liked to cook, and since Chouji liked to eat, they were a match made in heaven. Last Sakura saw, Chouji had taken his girlfriend into the gardens. The others were probably in some room together, whining about how they couldn't manage to find a girlfriend, or in Kankuro's case, keep one. Honestly, Gaara's brother was just one big man whore, and wasn't really ashamed to admit it. It wasn't really a wonder he had trouble keeping a girlfriend. To be honest, Sakura was amazed the girls even went out with him. You'd think they'd get a clue after his first four girlfriends broke up with him. Sadly, many girls had no brains to speak of, they'd much rather look pretty. Thankfully she and the others were blessed with looks and brains. Sometimes though, Ino had a bit of trouble using hers...

After searching the second, third, and fourth floors Sakura was just about ready to give up. She couldn't find Gaara anywhere in this damn house, and it was pissing her off. Turning to walk back down the stairs, she stopped as a sudden thought hit her; Gaara went on the roof all the time back in Suna, so it was more than likely that's where he was now. Looking around her, Sakura finally spotted what she was looking for at the other end of the hall. An oak wood door that was slightly open, and showing a staircase leading up to the roof. Walking over to the door, Sakura pushed it open and ascended the stairs quickly, intent on her goal. Finally reaching a matching door, Sakura pushed it open and stepped outside. The bitter cold bit into her flesh as she crossed her arms over her chest for warmth. She didn't bring her coat, since she didn't think she would be going outside. Searching the snow covered area around her, Sakura's eyes finally landed on the silhouette of her fiance, who was standing over by the side of the roof. Walking over quickly, Sakura stood beside him and grabbed his hand in hers.

"Finally, I was begining to think you ran off back to Suna." Gaara glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, a small smirk tugging at his lips. He tightened the hold he had on Sakura's hand, a silent apology for making her search the house for him.

"I had to get away from Naruto for a while. Watching him eat ramen all the time gets annoying." Sakura laughed lightly, nodding her head to his words.

"Trust me, I know. I spent nearly three years having to watch him eat ramen everyday, so I know the pain." The smirk on Gaara's face grew a bit, and he moved his hand from hers to around er waist.

"Hn." Sakura leaned her head against his shoulder, not bothered by his lack of response. By now she could tell what the various "hn's" from Gaara meant. This particular one meant that he was amused by her answer, but refused to laugh. Smiling a little, Sakura allowed a small swell of pride bubble up in her chest. She would have never thought that she would not only be marrying Gaara, but also learn how to understand everything he said. Or didn't say. If you were to go into the past, to when she was 12, and tell her the exact position she was in now, she would have laughed in your face and called you crazy, then go on to rant about how she was marrying Sasuke. Thankfully, when Sakura reached the age of 15, she realized the feelings she had were not the love of a girlfriend, but the love of a sister. Soon after, she realized what it really meant to be in love, when she fell for Gaara. Now that she was getting married to her love, Sakura couldn't be happier.

The two stood there in content silence for a while, just watching the snow fall from the dark sky. There was no real need for words between them, since they understood each other perfectly. You could stand right next to them, and not realize they were having a silent conversation with each other. It was for this reason that thier bond was so strong. Sakura sighed and leaned against Gaara a bit more, enjoying the warmth that always seemed to radiate off him like a furnace. Gaara pulled her tighter against him and settled his chin on the top of her head contentedly. A moment later, Ino popped her head around the door looking for the two. She smiled slightly when she saw the scene, and let the enjoy each other's company for a second longer, then called out to them.

"Sakura, Gaara, it's time to open the presents now, so come on down." Both red head's turned to look at her, Sakura smiling and Gaara with a stoic look on his face.

"Alright Ino, we'll be right down." The blond nodded, before withdrawing from the roof and heading down to the main floor. Sakura turned to look at Gaara with twinkling eyes.

"We should be heading down now, since they'll all just wait for us to show up." Gaara gave a nearly inaudible sigh, then nodded. Turning to his fiancee, Gaara bent down slightly and scooped her up bridal style, ignoring the shrieks coming from her. He walked over to the slightly ajar door and kicked it open with his foot, walking in and switching Sakura to one arm so he could pull it closed behind him. He carried her down to the lounge that way, and tossed her onto the couch when he stepped into the room. The presents had been brought in so that everyone could sit while opening them, and they were stacked on a large table in the middle of the room. Everyone had watched the two come in, with various expression of amusement crossing their faces.

Kiba and Lauralie sat across from them, with Hanako sitting in Kiba's lap and Akamaru curled up on the floor in front of the small family. To Lauralie's left sat Naruto, with Hinata pulled into his lap. Shikamaru was sitting in an armchair, with Ino perched on one of the arms, her arm settled on the top of the chair. Tenten and Neji had finally showed up, and were sitting on a loveseat by the fire, Tenten with her head leaned on Neji's shoulder. Sasuke and Temari were sitting on the other end of their couch, and Sakura could swear she heard a chuckle form the usually stoic man. Kakashi and Anko were leaned against the wall, with a drunk Jiriya and Tsunade beside them, still flirting loudly. Gai and Lee had sat on the floor next to the table, while Shino and his girlfriend stood beside them, Chouji not too far off with his own girlfriend. Sai, Kankuro, Baki, and Kurenai were all standing near the door, watching the whole room.

Sakura turned and mock glared at Gaara as he sat down beside her, a barely detectable smirk on his face. Reaching out, she slapped him lightly on the shoulder, and giggled when he winced; she forgot her own strength sometimes. Turning back to the others, Sakura smiled as she saw Kiba glaring at the gift Naruto had given him: a black leather collar with a small tag hanging from it, his name carved into one side of it. The blond was roaring with laughter, hiding behind Hinata as Kiba continued to glare, but did nothing else. He didn't want to hurt his daughter after all. Everyone laughed for a little while, then continued to give out the gifts. Tenten got a set of silk fans from Temari and Sasuke. Neji was given a book on ways to be youthful from Lee. Unfortunetly, the gift was thrown in the fire when the 'Green Beast' wasn't looking. Lauralie was given a new ANBU mask from Tsunade, who claimed her old one was getting to be in bad shape. Hinata ended up fainting when she opened Kankuro's gift of 'Karma Sutra', making Naruto grin and stuff the book in his coat. Needless to say, Kankuro got a very bad beating from quite a few angry females. Ino was given a crystal vase from Sakura and Gaara, the fromer saying Sakura had picked it out. Lee got a new spandex suit from Gai, to nobody's surprise. Kakashi ended up getting three new 'Icha Icha' books from Jiriya, and tried to sneak off to read them right away, keyword being 'tried', sicne next thing anyone knew, he was face down on the floor with Anko sitting on his back. Tsunade was given a bottle of expensive alcohol from Anko, and Jiriya a new notebook, also from Anko. Chouji was given a book on Korean Barbeque, and Shino got a butterfly mounted in a frame, both surprisingly from Sai. Anko was given two new daggers by Baki, who got a shortsword from Kurenai. Kurenai herself was given a new kimono by Lauralie. Sakura herself was given a very light fighting outfit from Temari, since her usual clothes were too hot for the desert. Gaara got a scroll full of various fighting techniques from Baki.

Sakura watched everyone exchange their gifts and smiled. This was her family, the ones she could rely on for anything. These were the very people who would trust her with their lives, and have faith in her to not fail them. She felt a clanch in her heart at this thought, and grinned with happiness. Turning to Gaara, Sakura smiled at him and leaned her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her questioningly, and raised a non-existent eyebrow when she grinned up at him. Shaking her head at his confused look, Sakura leaned up and pressed her lips against his for a brief moment. Pulling back, she gave him a dazzling smile.

"Merry Christmas Gaara." After saying this, Sakura stood and walked over to Kiba, holding her arms out to hold Hanako. Kiba surendered his daughter reluctantly, but she was immeadietly replaced by Lauralie, who leaned her head on his chest with an affectionate grin. Wrapping his arms around his wife, Kiba lounged back into the couch lazily, nuzzling his nose into the top of her head. Sakura sat on the floor, cooing at the small baby in her arms, who had her mother's black hair, and her fathers golden, canine like eyes. Gaara watched Sakura with curiosity, confused by her sudden smile and kiss. It wasn't like he was complaining about the last part, but she usually didn't just kiss him out of the blue. Shaking his head, Gaara let it go and decided to just enjoy the night with his family and friends, and question Sakura about it later. Who knows, if he steered the conversation right, he might just be able to get more than a kiss tonight.

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**Well, there it is, my Christmas fic. I know it's still November, but I decided to put it up anyway, since I take forever to put anything else up, and the mood to write this just struck me randomly. I think it turned out dencently, what about you?**


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